A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence, which costs us nothing.

Ignorance and inconsideration are the two great causes of the ruin of mankind.

Sincerity is like traveling on a plain, beaten road, which commonly brings a man sooner to his journey’s end than by-ways, in which men often lose themselves.

The art of using deceit and cunning grow continually weaker and less effective to the user.

The crafty person is always in danger; and when they think they walk in the dark, all their pretenses are transparent.

They who are in the highest places, and have the most power, have the least liberty, because they are the most observed.

To be able to bear provocation is an argument of great reason, and to forgive it of a great mind.

Zeal is fit for wise men, but flourishes chiefly among fools.